Elvis, Bernie and Hillary

OK, folks, I haven’t written anything for a while now. I was in Las Vegas at a conference for a week. I landed at 9:45 p.m. on Saturday night and the temperature was 104 degrees. The next day it was 111 or something obscene like that, but fortunately I was indoors most of the time, shuttling between the Westgate Hotel and the LV Convention Center. During my stay the main question on my mind concerned water, and specifically the source of Vegas’ water. Lake Mead I was told. I didn’t see a single notice in the Westgate – or the Convention Center for that matter -- about saving water, and I doubt that many of the tourists or conference goers gave water a second thought. Hailing from drought-ravaged California, water is always on my mind.

Given a choice of places to go, I would not choose Vegas. I’m not a Vegas person. I don’t bet on horse races, play cards, roll dice or do anything else to put my limited funds at risk. I walked through the Westgate casino – a dismal place in need of a facelift – past the slot machines and blackjack tables, past the bored-looking dealers and the bronze statue of Elvis -- without a shred of interest. Las Vegas seems like an absurdity to me, an improbable city set in an inhospitable landscape. To me Vegas is a theme park in Hell. Everything in the hotel was overpriced – bottled water cost $4, a bowl of fruit went for $6.50, an awful turkey club for $12, etc. I subsisted on water, trail mix, protein bars, and coffee.

Anyway, I’m back on the Platinum Coast, where water is scarce, homes cost a kings ransom, and the poor are pushed to the margins where they don’t annoy the tourists. It’s high season and State Street is sun-splashed and jammed with visitors, gawkers, Europeans with American dollars in their pockets and motivation to spend.

I had a three-hour layover in Phoenix on my way back to California and, as if that wasn’t bummer enough, the airport sound system piped in a radio interview with Donald Trump. Talk about slow torture. To hear Trump tell it, he deserves to be president of the United States because he has succeeded at everything he has ever set his hand to, plus he has guts and gumption and would negotiate great deals with the Chinese, and he’d drive all the illegal immigrants back to Mexico where they belong, and he’d balance the federal budget, eradicate ISIS and make America great again.

Donald Trump is a dick.

The other morning I heard a report on ABC News about Bernie Sanders and how his presidential campaign is drawing large, enthusiastic crowds compared to the relatively small crowds that Hillary Clinton is drawing on her highly staged campaign stops. Bernie pulls in 9,000 while Hillary draws a paltry 850. Ah, but let’s not forget, the ABC reporter reminded us, that Hillary is light years ahead when it comes to fund raising, which, as we all know, is the only thing that matters in American politics.

Not one word – not one – about why Sanders is drawing large, enthusiastic crowds. What is Sanders saying that resonates with potential voters? ABC News won’t say. Maybe they don’t care – Hillary’s got the dough, the corporate backers, the name and organization, and when it’s all said and done and Hillary has the nomination on ice, Sanders will undoubtedly urge his supporters to put their shoulders behind Hillary.

What does Sanders think about the military budget, Israel settlement building in the West Bank, or the number of civilians in Gaza killed by the IDF in the last five or six years? What does Sanders have to say about Yemen or Syria or US relations with China for that matter? Your guess is as good as mine.

ABC’s lazy reporters and editors should be horsewhipped. Or confined to the Westgate hotel in Vegas for a month. Or forced to listen to Donald Trump’s stump speeches until their ears bleed and they scream for mercy – or death.